Cop arrested in puppy death

BALTIMORE, Maryland (WBAL) — A Baltimore City police officer has been arrested on animal cruelty charges.

The officer, identified on Wednesday as 27-year-old Alec Eugene Taylor, was the target of an animal abuse investigation in Montgomery County.

Police officers and animal services officers were called to a home in the 13800 block of Castle Boulevard in Silver Spring around 11:10 a.m. Friday after Taylor’s girlfriend told police Taylor beat and killed their 7-month-old Jack Russell terrier named Rocko.

Investigators said on around 4:30 p.m. on Feb. 26, the girlfriend received a text from Taylor saying Rocko defecated on the carpet and that Taylor had killed the dog. Taylor also texted a photograph of what appeared to be a lifeless dog.

Police said in a follow-up phone call between the girlfriend and Taylor, Taylor said he was tired of cleaning up the dog’s defecation and that he had beaten the dog with a mop. He also said that he had placed the deceased dog in a dumpster in the parking lot.

The girlfriend asked Taylor if he could take Rocko from the dumpster so that she could bury the dog, police said. Around 6:30 p.m. that evening, the girlfriend came home from work, got the deceased dog from a shoebox on the apartment balcony and buried it at a neighborhood park in Hyattsville, police said.

Animal Services Officers found and recovered the dog and a necropsy was performed. The necropsy results identified the likely immediate cause of death as acute hemorrhagic shock likely due to blood loss from liver damage caused by blunt force trauma shortly before death, police said.

During the investigation, Animal Services Division officers also spoke with Taylor who said he used a mop to force Rocko from behind the dryer and then used his hands to choke Rocko until he was dead.

Neighbors spoke to at the apartment community couldn’t remember having a conversation with Taylor, but many of them said they remembered seeing him walking the dog often.

“I just can’t imagine what kind of person or what frame of mind would cause him to do something like this, and I think he should get the maximum punishment and definitely be put away in jail,” neighbor Linda Fuller said.

Animal Services officers obtained a warrant for Taylor’s arrest Tuesday night, and on Wednesday, he turned himself in to officers. Court records show he posted bond and was released several hours later.